Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is nine days of prayer offered to the wounded, burning Heart of Christ, the Heart that loved us to the point of dying on the Cross. Catholics have carried this devotion for more than three centuries, turning to the Sacred Heart in times of grief, sickness, family trouble, and quiet longing for grace. It is a prayer of confidence: you come with an intention, you knock at the door of that Heart for nine days running, and you trust the promise Jesus Himself gave in the Gospel.

This page gives you the roots of the devotion, the full text of the famous "Efficacious Novena" associated with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the daily structure, the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart, and the intentions people most often bring to it. If you want to understand the devotion itself more deeply, see our companion page on the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Where the Devotion Comes From

Between 1673 and 1675, in the quiet convent of the Visitation nuns at Paray-le-Monial in France, a young sister named Margaret Mary Alacoque received a series of apparitions of Jesus. He showed her His Heart, encircled with a crown of thorns and surmounted by a cross, aflame with love for humanity. In the great apparition of June 1675, He told her that His Heart had loved people so much and received so little love in return, and He asked that this Heart be honored, especially through Holy Communion and reparation.

Margaret Mary was a humble nun, unsure of herself, and at first her superiors doubted her. Everything changed when a Jesuit priest, St. Claude de la Colombiere, was sent to Paray as confessor to the community. He recognized that her experiences were genuine, became her spiritual guide, and spread the devotion through his own preaching and writing. Between the visionary and the Jesuit, the Sacred Heart moved from one convent parlor into the life of the whole Church.

Out of these apparitions grew the liturgical Feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi (nineteen days after Pentecost). The novena is very often prayed as the nine days leading up to that feast, though, as we will see, it can be prayed at any time.

The First Fridays Devotion

Tied closely to the Sacred Heart is the practice of the Nine First Fridays. In her revelations, St. Margaret Mary recorded a promise of Jesus for those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months. This is why many people time their novena to the Sacred Heart so that it ends on or near a First Friday, joining the nine days of prayer to the discipline of Confession and Communion.

The First Fridays are not magic and they are not a shortcut around a serious Christian life. They are an invitation to a steady, faithful habit: to come back to the sacraments month after month, to make reparation for coldness and sin, and to let the love of the Sacred Heart reshape ordinary Catholic life.

How to Pray It

There is no rigid formula, but a simple, reverent structure keeps you steady across the nine days:

1. Choose your intention. Name clearly what you are asking the Sacred Heart for, or the person you are praying for. Write it down if it helps.
2. Set a fixed time and place. The same corner of the house, the same few minutes each day, before an image of the Sacred Heart if you have one, with a candle if you wish.
3. Begin with a moment of quiet and the Sign of the Cross, placing yourself in the presence of God.
4. Pray the novena prayer given below, slowly, meaning every line. Many people add an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
5. Rest for a moment in silence, offering your intention into the Heart of Jesus and listening.
6. Close with the aspiration "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You," and the Sign of the Cross.
7. Repeat for all nine days, without skipping. If you miss a day, do not despair; simply pick up where you left off.

The Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart

This is the beloved novena often attributed to St. Margaret Mary. It is called "efficacious" because it rests entirely on the words of Jesus in the Gospel: it does not so much ask for a favor as remind the Lord of His own promise to hear those who pray. Pray this same prayer on each of the nine days.

Notice the shape of it: three times you approach, each time leaning on a different word of Christ (ask and you will receive, ask in My name, heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not), and three times you answer with the same act of trust. It is a prayer built to grow your confidence day by day.

The Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart

Through St. Margaret Mary, Jesus made twelve promises to those who honor His Sacred Heart. They are not a bargain but an outpouring of love, and they give the novena much of its hope. To all who are devoted to His Heart, the Lord promised:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their homes.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. To those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months, I promise the grace of final repentance: they shall not die in My displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last hour.

That twelfth promise, the Great Promise, is the root of the Nine First Fridays. It has always been understood in the light of the Church's teaching: it is a promise of the grace of conversion and perseverance for those who truly love the Sacred Heart, not a guarantee that excuses a careless life.

Common Intentions

People bring every kind of need to the Sacred Heart. Some of the most common intentions include:

• Peace in the home: for a marriage under strain, or for a family divided by anger or distance.
• The conversion of a loved one: a child or spouse who has drifted from the faith.
• Healing: for someone seriously ill, or for one's own recovery of body or spirit.
• A holy death: for the dying, that they may not depart without the sacraments.
• Work and provision: for a job, a home, or the ability to care for a family.
• Freedom from a besetting sin and the grace to begin again.